New Podcast Episode: Arun Sharma on Using Space to Accelerate Stem Cell and Cardiac Research

In the latest episode of Between a Rocket and a Hard Space, the official podcast of the ISS National Lab, we sit down with Arun Sharma, a leading biomedical researcher at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles whose work has helped shape the future of regenerative medicine in space.

For nearly a decade, Sharma has launched investigations to the ISS, using heart muscle cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells to model cardiovascular diseases. His team has also explored stem cell biomanufacturing in microgravity. In this episode, he shares how the unique space environment can accelerate the development of new or improved therapeutics—and how that research could translate into real-world health benefits for patients on Earth and beyond.

“It was the coolest experience of my scientific career up to that point, and maybe even until now,” Sharma said on the podcast. He explains the benefit of science in the microgravity of the orbiting laboratory: “We take a small sample of someone’s skin or blood, reprogram it into a stem cell, and from there, we can turn them into beating heart cells, stem cells, liver tissue — any cell type in the human body.”

We also discuss the exciting announcement from Cedars-Sinai about its new  Center for Space Medicine Research, where Sharma serves as director. He outlines how the center will continue to explore the ways space-based science can fuel biomedical innovation, as well as what’s next for his team’s research onboard the orbiting laboratory.

Click here to listen to the interview and learn how space is helping to unlock the next frontier in cardiac and stem cell research.